Vantaggi
- Work with highly motivated top talent from across tech industry. - Mechanisms and Processes albeit a bit crude, are effective and relatively mature and streamlined in most orgs. This generally leads to Product roadmaps which drive KPIs and OKRs successfully. - Generally a professional environment. Despite the high stress/long hours, most people remain respectful and dignified. - Efficiency especially on communication is a critical skill across all levels. When this skill is regularly well practiced it is also beneficial outside the workplace. - Emphasis on high scale fosters a technical learning environment. - The classic Leadership Principles establish by Bezos and Co many years ago are great models for corporate culture. Unfortunately not as effectively instrumented as they once were (see Cons below). - Generally very strong compensation relative to the industry. - Under Jassy leadership more emphasis on businesses with actual results and less theoretical which was a good model for AWS and helps overall prioritization.
Svantaggi
- Leadership principles are weaponized and underground corporate memes abound; interpretation has become leader specific and contentious. This has resulted in the not formally acknowledged but well known "shadow principles" among employees being whispered in water-cooler discussions and replacing the conversations that used to be about innovation. - Corporate Culture and Values are no longer consistent in top leadership and exodus of long term leaders results in sometimes periods of toxicity in different orgs until rooted out by lagging indicators. If it's your org you have to see the signs and bounce quickly. - Underperformers are sometimes simply that, but more often are usually those who did not build the right strategic relationships, The "survival of the fittest" culture is less about skill and more about bureaucratic proficiency to block or accelerate others based on political favor and personal gain rather than customer benefit. - Skills sometimes stagnate as roles and teams generally become repetitive, which combined with performance and org culture shifts create long term uncertainty in org balance through wide swings in cycles of attrition and growth. - Jassy's public statements seem to be what people want to hear rather than the actual. His predecessor (Bezos) was never afraid to speak his mind which creates the perception that Jassy is a weaker leader.